Storage devices are used to store data. Examples of storage devices include hard disk drives, memory devices, and optical disc drives. Data may be stored in various configurations of data storage, and may be organized in storage in various ways. For instance, data may be collected and organized in databases, which may be stored in collections of storage, such as network attached storage (NAS) arrays, storage area networks (SAN), and further arrangements of physical storage. The amount of data requiring storage continues to increase at a fast pace, and as such the need is increasing for larger capacity storage, as well as better types of storage organization.
A data warehouse is an example type of repository of historical data for an entity, such as a corporation. Data warehouses are designed to allow complex queries and analysis to be performed on the data without slowing down day-to-day operational systems. As such, data warehouses are useful for reporting and analysis. Various types of data warehouses exist, including online analytical processing (OLAP) databases.
Managing access to stored data, such as data stored in a data warehouse, is challenging because multiple users may desire to access the same data simultaneously. For instance, a first user may desire to modify particular data while a second user desires to read the data to perform operations. This may be undesirable for the second user, as the value of the particular data may change during the operations, leading to a data concurrency issue. Furthermore, a data warehouse may include numerous data sets that are managed by different providers, leading to different techniques needing to be used to interface with the different providers.